Romanoff, challenging Sen. Bennet in the Democratic primary for Colorado, said he would have voted for a full financial audit of the Federal Reserve rather than the more limited audit Bennet approved. Romanoff also said Bennet voted against an amendment to the pending Wall Street reforms that would have effectively broken up the “too big to fail” banks[7] by limiting their maximum assets and leverage.

The former speaker of the Colorado House also reached back to a vote last year, when he said Bennet voted against a proposal to allow bankruptcy judges to change loan terms — a so-called “cram down” — so that homeowners could avoid foreclosure.

Bennet’s Washington office responded to the volleys with detailed explanations of the votes. Bennet and a large majority of senators believed unlimited audits of the Federal Reserve would politicize the monetary agency at a potentially chaotic time.

Most senators don’t want every interest rate decision by the Fed questioned on the House or Senate floor, Bennet’s office said. Instead, Bennet voted for an audit aimed at what the Fed did specifically during the economic crisis, and whether there were conflicts of interest in giving aid to financial firms.

Bennet voted against a last-minute “too big to fail” amendment because breaking up the largest U.S. banks could further limit credit and give advantages to huge overseas banks, his office said. The overall Dodd bill, which Bennet supports, includes other limits on the big banks that will address transparency issues and tighten regulation.

Romanoff calls Bennet’s vote against “cram downs” last year “a victory for Wall Street and an insult to families across the country who are struggling to stay in their homes during this weak economic time.” Advocates say the threat of court-ordered cram downs helps force lenders to work more cooperatively to keep people in their homes.

Bennet thinks giving judges wholesale new powers will have “unintended consequences” across bankruptcy and finance law, according to his staff. Bennet wants to push banks to work more with homeowners before the borrower reaches the bankruptcy stage; earlier this week he was in Denver boosting the need for more foreclosure counselors[8] who act as go-betweens with banks to find solutions.

“Michael strongly supports the current Wall Street Reform bill, which will hold Wall Street accountable and prevent taxpayers from ever footing the bill for irresponsible banks,” said his chief of staff, Guy Cecil. “Our economy is slowly recovering, and Michael will not vote for any amendment that has the potential to increase interest rates, dry up credit, and hurt Colorado families.”